STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF COLLABORATIVE LEARNING APPROACH AND THE INTERPLAY OF SOME DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES IN LEARNING BASIC SCIENCE

Abstract

In recent pedagogical innovations aimed at enhancing
students' understanding of basic scientific knowledge, the
collaborative learning approach (CLA) has emerged as an
enterprising pedagogical approach. However, there has been
limited research attention on students' perceptions of the use of
CLA amidst its obvious benefits. For this purpose, students’
perception, toward the use of CLA in Basic Science was
evaluated. Using cross-sectional survey design and Social
cognitive theory (SCT), students learning behaviour and
perception were explained. Data have been collected through
questionnaires from basic education students. Descriptive
statistics were utilized to answer the research questions, while
hypothesis testing was conducted using independent sample ttests
and ANOVA at a 0.05 alpha level. The findings provided
evidence that students’ perception is generally positive towards
the use of CLA, & no significant difference in the perception of
male & female students was observed. The findings also provided
evidence that there is no significant difference between students’
birth order and their perceptions of CLA in the classroom.
Amongst all, the classroom setting & teacher relationship with
the students should be revisited to enhance equal participation
of males & females.